Teaching and Learning

Teaching and Learning is the purpose of our school. It is the method through which we efficiently enable, empower, enhance and enrich the development of children, teaching and non-teaching staff, parents, governors and all others involved with this school. Successful teaching and learning develops self-esteem and confidence. It is about opening minds and learning how to learn and understanding that making mistakes and finding things difficult are an important part of the learning process. A good primary school education forms the basis of a successful future – both in further studies and then onto adult life. At Tany’s Dell, we aim to educate the ‘whole child’ and offer opportunities across all subject areas for individuals to shine.

At Tany's Dell we have developed a creative, knowledge and skills based curriculum to enable children to more deeply engage in their learning and better understand how they can develop in all areas of learning.

The curriculum is made up of core subjects: English, Maths and Science and foundation subjects: Religious Education, History, Geography, Computing, Languages, Music, Art, Design & Technology and Physical Education. Effective cross-curricular links are made through topic work that enrich children’s learning and make learning fun. Much of this learning is underpinned by the school's values and ethos, communicated via the Reach for the Stars vision, which is also known as the Tany's Dell Way. We promote learning through the formal curriculum but also encourage our children to foster a deeper understanding of themselves and caring for the world around them through Philosophy and Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural Education.

English

Speaking and Listening

Speaking and Listening is a vital skill that is developed from an early stage at Tany’s Dell. We give the children opportunities to take part in role play, with engaging role play areas developed in classrooms. Children also have access to role play and drama activities linked to topics, throughout the whole school.

Reading

At Tany’s Dell reading is an essential skill that runs through all areas of our curriculum. We aim to develop children’s love of reading so they become lifelong readers. In KS1 we use the Oxford Reading Tree scheme to support our teaching of reading, using levelled colour bands. We supplement this with a variety of real books that are ability banded to give children experience of a wide range of texts. As they move into KS2 we continue with the Oxford Reading Tree scheme, using the Project X books, Treetops and other motivating texts.

Guided reading texts are used in ability groups to teach and develop reading, comprehension skills and an understanding of different text styles. Many of our guided reading books are from the Rigby scheme in KS1 and as the children move into KS2 we use a variety of schemes and texts.

All children at Tany’s Dell have weekly access to our library, where they can take books home on a regular basis to share at home. In KS1 Parents and Carers are invited in to help their child choose books and read with them. This allows children to experience a variety of texts that interest them.

Phonics and Spelling

We follow the systematic phases of Letters and Sounds to teach phonics. There are daily sessions of phonics, with opportunities for children to review their learning, learn a new sound and to practise and apply their new learning. From Year 2 onwards we use the No Nonsense Spelling scheme.

Writing

At Tany’s Dell we understand the importance of writing for a variety of purposes and to give writing meaning. Our writing lessons are linked to our topics where possible. Speaking and listening is an important part of being a good writer and we use Talk for Writing to help the children build a range of stories and non-fiction texts that they have internalised before beginning writing. At the end of a Talk for Writing block the children take part in the Big Write, writing in a relaxed and calm atmosphere.

We use the Penpals Handwriting scheme from FS to Year 6.

Maths

Much of our mathematical work in school is of a practical nature in line with the National Curriculum, and enables the child to develop a real understanding of mathematics. Only when a child has shown, in a practical situation by solving a problem, that they have grasped a concept are they encouraged to consolidate their learning by completing written calculations. Number work is considered as most important and is linked with work in measurement, shape and graphical representation.

The school also makes good use of 'booster resources', such as First Class at Number, Success at Arithmetic and Springboard Maths. These all help with our endeavours to raise standards and achieve the challenging targets we have set for pupil attainment.